Synopsis

Third year high school student, Shino Yuzuru, is a boy with a beautiful face and an undesirable personality; he is laid back, impolite, and blunt. Soon after he goes out with someone, they dump him once his true personality starts to surface.

His junior in the archery club, Seryou Touji, is a well-known ladies' man. A rumor about him circulates in school, stating that Seryou will agree to go out with the first person to ask him out on Monday, before promptly dumping that person on Sunday. Despite the school knowing this, Seryou remains popular with girls because, for the seven days he dates them, Seryou will make his partner feel absolutely special.

Hearing the rumor, Shino becomes curious about Seryou. One Monday morning, he greets Seryou outside of the school's entrance and jokingly asks him out. However, Seryou takes him seriously, and so begins Shino's seven days with him.

Background

Seven Days was published in English by Digital Manga Publishing under the Juné imprint from October 24, 2010 to August 31, 2011, in Polish by Kotori from May to August 2014, and in Spanish by Ediciones Tomodomo from November 10, 2014, to February 11, 2015.

I am not particularly interested in shounen-ai, but this should not be classified as strictly "eye-candy" or "love between boys." I believe this story was not written for the sake of it being shounen-ai, but for the sake of telling a "true love" story.

At first, I was drawn to the manga because of the beautiful art style, and once I started reading it, I could tell it was unique. The plot started out differently, and moved at a pace that was not rushed, but was not too slow. The characters felt almost real, as you learn more about them as the story progresses. They are
not shallow characters. They have faults, like real people, and that's why I really like the characters in this.

I'm not very good at writing reviews (this is my first), so I'm not sure what to say exactly. But I can tell you that this won't disappoint you. Contrary to cliched romance stories, "Seven Days" is unique and captivating. It is not about love on the surface. The characters don't love each other simply because they are both boys, but because they learn more about each other and how they bring out the best in each other.

Overall, what really touched me in this manga was its purity and portrayal of "love." It's rare to find a meaningful story like this.

In this world, people judge according to one’s appearance. Neglecting them if they’re disappointed after peeling off the skin. Harsh? Yes. This is the reality of what this story takes place to. It takes your mindset into something captivating.

The main storyline focuses on two characters namely: Yuzuru, a person who may seem unblemished, ethical and perfect. He gives off a stoic vibe to many people who sees him. Most of his classmates adore him. There’s only one thing, he isn’t like what you’re imagining. A prince?No, definitely no. He’s quite the opposite. He’s moody, grumpy and frank. And most of the times ends up getting
dumped by the girl who confessed to him, it’s contradictory.

On the other side of the picture, Seryou, a year younger and is the ‘I-go-out-with-girls-with-no-feelings-attached’ kind of guy. Looking up from different angles, he seems to be a bad guy. But peeking through the needle hole, he is someone who is surprisingly unfathomable. He’s mysterious, bizarre and apathetic.

For the plot, it starts off when Yuzuru gets a chance to go out with one of the most popular guys in school, Seryou. But wait–there’s something more. All we know is both of them are straight, right? Seryou goes out with random people for a week, and dumps them afterwards saying that he can’t feel anything for them. Yuzuru on the other hand, hears this gossip and piques his interest. A while after, he asks Seryou if he could go out with him. Yuzuru takes this as a joke while Seryou, after hearing this took it seriously and started to act like as a perfect boyfriend.

We have two of the most common characters in a plot just like this. There’s only something between them, a relationship. Then what?Love?Misunderstandings?Trials?

And this is how the story starts to get more enticing.

In a typical shounen ai read, the strongest element that can be made is its art. Seven Days’ design was really alluring. Fully detailed and the background really gets the readers to notice them. It creates more depth and sets the characters on the perfect flow and atmosphere. It feels like the characters were from a picture book and it just keeps you staring at it. There are many words to describe it actually. But uniqueness is something more suitable.

The characters has a chronic impact. It intercepts most of the minor flaws and gets back again in a good progress. It provides the readers captivity through its detailed scheme. It strips down one of the most pleasant elements in a story and directs satisfaction with no constraint. It simply makes you want to love them.

Some supporting characters are merely for support. In the beginning half of the story, they were a big help with the comical part and the progress of the main cast. But on the latter part, they seem to achromatize. Which I think needs improvement, nevertheless it did not affect too much on the flow of the story. Some outweighs the others which makes the readers focus more on them. Just like the other Shiyo, while she made half of the story interesting, the others were used for back up but is also reflexive.

Monday to Thursday has the majority of Yuzuru’s thoughts. He primarily thinks of things complicatedly and often leads to misunderstandings. He’s too self conscious due to his past relationships. Passing over these facts, we may also find him adorably childish. He sticks to his friends oftentimes and acts like a spoiled child when with Seryou.

On the contrary, Friday to Sunday premiers Seryou’s intricate mindset. He loves Yuzuru more than anyone else. He loves Yuzuru as a whole; as a child, a student, an upperclassman, a friend, a person, a man and as a lover. Still, he doesn’t comprehend with Seryou’s thinking. In many instances, Seryou is seen surprised by Yuzuru’s actions. He wants to knock on the door of Yuzuru’s life. He wants to be with him, even after seven days.

This is another recommended shounen ai read for those who are hooked up with platonic relationships. It focuses more on the character’s development and the relationship between them gives off more of pure love rather than sensual feeling. Though I say that it’s pure love, you won’t find a girly uke here. It’s all masculine, in a different kind of way.

Seven Days is not merely just a title. This is where the whole storyline revolves,starts and ends. It actually doesn’t end. It’s a cycle of events where people are not only to be loved because of appearance, but because he is the being himself.

Speaking of seven days, how many days does it actually need to fall inlove with someone?

Shino Yuzuru is a third year high school student who is constantly being judged by his good looks, that are in contrast to his personality. It's not strange that when he hears the story of a junior's weird habit he feels quite curious about it; Seryou Touji is a sophomore that has adopted as a custom accepting any girl, who confesses first on Monday, as his girlfriend during the week. If he doesn't fall in love with them, the relationship ends in that Sunday and, since he is so popular, he is very lucky to get a new girlfriend every Monday, or maybe not so
lucky. Shino is pondering about all this when, coincidentally, he turns out to be the first person to meet Seryou in that week. His curiosity takes the best of him, so much that he jokingly asks Seryou to be his couple of the week after hearing he would accept anyone. What will happen when Seryou takes his "rule" a bit too seriously...?

Seven Days is presented to us as a boy's love manga, but it's certainly much more than that. This is a romance story with a premise that transcends any genre; the nature of falling in love. We all judge based on appearances, at least until we are able to know more, that's why the concept of seven days to fall in love sounds so compelling and very interesting. From that idea, the plot progresses slowly, instantly taking us to our days of innocent dreams, and creating a sort of magical purity between these teenagers, who wouldn't be able to enjoy such details if they weren't completely unexpected. The week promise is the thread that keeps them together and can definitely separate them at the end of that week.

This manga would probably become only an endearing story, if it weren't for the breathtakingly beautiful way the game is presented to us. A sort of delicate, disheveled and yet beautiful art-style; a very clever way of placing simple words, playing with panel alignment and flashbacks to empower them; and characters with very interesting and quirky personalities. Tachibana Venio's story, combined with Takarai Rihito's art, worked with these details in a way that made Seven Days a light but brilliant piece. There is definitely a lovely harmony between all the elements, each of them enhancing the beauty of the other, until the point you can feel, for example, the tension and tranquility in Yuzuru's archery performance, just as Seryou would picture it.

Character-wise, there is nothing more interesting than realistic, flawed personalities, at least for me. These boys are considered handsome, and they are very popular, but they have a lot of complicated and not so good qualities that people don't like to imagine while looking at them. However, they complement each other nicely, and their bad points can actually become charming once you get to look at them from different angles.

Compared to most fast-paced boy's loves, Seven Days turns out to be very simple and original, in a way that strikes me as slice of life. In fact, every time I read this volume a strange sense of peace overcomes me. I can't help but think that I slowly fell in love too, but with the manga, because it artfully caresses any fiber of romanticist you might have. Shino and Seryou remind us what falling in love is about. Not the I love you since I first saw you or you are so hot/strong/powerful that I can't resist you type. It's the this is the real me, I'm getting to know you, and I really like what I see kind of love. Honestly, this is the sort of romantic development that I would like to see in most romantic stories. For now, they are just getting to know each other (makes me wonder about the 16+ rating, this is not yaoi), but we almost can't wait to see what will come on Friday in one of the best weeks of boy's love. Seven Days would serve as a really heartwarming introduction to boy's love with an unusual and well-thought "game" that leaves us thinking about the reasons we fall in love.

What would you do if you could go out with one of the most popular people in school with no catches? What if you found out that you could only go out with them for seven days, would you still be willing to ask that person out?

Yuzuru Shino is your average high school student. He has a few friends, belongs to a club and just goes about his life like any other teenage boy. Touji Seryou on the other hand is somewhat strange. Being one of the most attractive and popular guys in the school, all the girls lust for him. Touji is a
bit unique however as Touji will go out with any girl who asks him to on Monday. But, after seven days he will split up with the other person by saying "I couldn't fall in love with you". One Monday, Yuzuru and Touji end up at the school gates together and out of curiosity, Yuzuru asks him out for the week. With seven days on the clock what will Yuzuru do with his week? Seven days shows us Yuzuru's week with Touji in sixteen beautiful chapters.

The art is one of the first things that draws your attention. Takarai is exceptionally talented and from the first few pages the art catches your eye and invites you to read on. People who see the art as something make or break in their manga should have no fear of reading this as it is by far some of the best I have seen. It definitely fits the tone of the story, the characters and backgrounds are highly detailed and no corners seem to have been cut. You can tell that a lot of effort and care was put into this manga.

Next to the art, one of the most important things in a manga for me is the characters. While not a lot of them are developed, we do get to see a great deal of development in both Yuzuru and Touji. Throughout the sixteen chapters, we get an insight into both of the teenager's feelings about the other person and their thoughts about what will happen when the seven days are up. The only main issue with the characters is that a few are introduced in the first couple of chapters but we don't get to know a lot about them. They're just there. Sure, they're supporting characters but it would have been nice to know how they feel about Touji's seven day trials. However, you have to give it to Tachibana. She's managed to create wonderful character development in such a short time. Not only that, she's managed to make the character's easy to become quickly interested in. Neither of the two mains are boring or dull. They both have intriguing thoughts that make you question how the story will end.

Talking about the ending, it is no letdown. Without giving anything away, prepare to make the ending to Seven Days one of your favourite manga endings. Every single page leads up to the conclusion at a nice speed, without feeling too slow or too fast. The final two chapters are without a doubt the ones that really tug at the heartstrings. These two chapters show us just how powerful a comic can be and just how talented Takari and Tachibana actually are. Prepare to shed some tears.

Seven Days is not only a beautiful manga, it's a work of art. Sixteen chapters may not seem like a great deal but every chapter is enjoyable and while there is still a sense of the story being somewhat rushed at a few points, it's not a major problem as the plot is still wonderful. The sixteen chapters were enough to tell this beautiful love story. People who aren't big on yaoi or shounen-ai shouldn't worry as there is no sex and no typical plot of,"I hate you" *practically gets raped* "Wow I love you now". This story is about how love can bloom. It's something so much more moving than your average boys love manga. If you're looking for something to pass an hour or two, read Seven Days. If you're looking for something to make you cry for hours, read Seven Days. If you're looking for the definition of art, read Seven Days.